The Mnemonic acronym system is a technique which uses a stored phrase to recall a list of items, often in a certain order. The technique is most suitable for items that can be recalled solely on the basis of a single letter. However it has a disadvantage in the effort involved in making up something witty and memorable.

There are two methods. These will be described using the example of remembering the order of the colours in the spectrum. The colours to remember are Red Orange Yellow Green Blue Indigo Violet.

• In the first method, one uses a stored phrase in which each letter of the stored phrase is an initial letter of a list item. In our example, this creates a personal name, of ROY G. BIV.

• The second method uses a stored sentence in which the initial letter of each word of the stored phrase is an initial letter of a list item. In our example, this could be the sentence: "Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain". This sentence is popular in England.

See the Mnemonic page for more examples.